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October 1967: This month last century

Forty-four years ago pubs were no longer legally required to close at 6pm (9 October 1967)

From December 1917, hotels had to close at 6pm. This was supposed to be a temporary war-time measure. Opening hours were reduced to encourage workers’ efficiency.

This restriction partly effected the aims of temperance movement, an international initiative that lobbied for alcohol to be restricted or prohibited. Temperance – the abstinence from alcohol – was considered a way to eliminate the social ills caused by excessive drinking.

Six o’clock hotel closing became permanent in 1918. In time it led to phenomenon known colloquially as the ‘six o’clock swill’. This name came from the excessive and undiscerning drinking of men who flocked to hotels to drink as much beer as they could in the hour between finishing work and closing time. The photo below records a Dunedin hotel closing at 6pm.

The binge drinking encouraged by six o’clock closing was an activity exclusively associated with men. At this time it was not socially acceptable for women to drink in public alone.

Alcohol could be sold and consumed publicly only in licensed places that provided accommodation – public hotels, or ‘pubs’ for short. In the 1960s, pub drinkers would have hurriedly swilled their beer from standard glasses like the one below.

There was public support for early evening closing for many decades. This continued after a 1949 referendum. But another, held in September 1967, reflected a shift in attitudes. Life in New Zealand had changed since the previous referendum, and this time almost two-thirds of voters supported a return to ten o’clock closing. The new hours came into effect the following month.